The WNBA season ended in late October when The Las Vegas Aces won their second championship in a row. Now that the season has ended it is time to start talking about the draft, which is scheduled for April, 15 2024. The draft lottery will be held Dec. 10 Recently women’s college basketball has been getting a lot of attention, therefore the WNBA took action earlier this year and expanded to San Francisco. The team, which is still yet to be named, is going to be headquartered in Oakland, California. In 2025 the team will begin playing in the Chase Center in San Francisco. There are ten top prospects going into this college season that have earned their spot to be a top ten draft prospect.. This year has been a big year for women’s basketball and this is arguably the most talented draft class we have seen so far. Here are some of the top prospects of the 2024 draft class.
Caitlin Clark is the most looked at prospect going into this draft. Clark is currently a guard at the University of Iowa. Clark is an all around player who has 11 triple doubles in her career, which is second in all of women’s college
basketball. Although Clark could stay another year at Iowa she is still a top prospect. She is averaging 29.6 points per game while shooting 46.7% and is first in points averaged so far this season. She also is averaging 6.4 rebounds and 7.5 assists. Iowa has played amazingly to start this season ranked at No.4, only being defeated once and leaving their record at a solid 7-1.
Cameron Brink, a forward at Stanford University, is another top prospect. Brink is a unique kind of player. Even though she is 6 ‘4 and dominant in the post she also shows many guard skills, such as her shot making ability and her ability to dribble around you to get to the basket or pull up from the freethrow line. Brink is averaging 18.9 points and 12.1 rebounds while shooting 56.2% so far this year. Stanford has gotten off to an amazing start to begin this year ranked No.3 and have yet to be defeated in seven games.
There are two big prospects coming from UConn this year. Aaliyah Edwards and Paige Bueckers both top five prospects going into this draft. Paige is a guard for the UConn Huskies.
Although Paige has been injured and unable to play she was cleared this week and hasn’t missed a beat since returning to the floor. Since her return she has averaged five rebounds, 20.7 points and shot 48.9%1. Aaliyah Edwards is forward for the UConn Huskies. Edwards has played very well to start the year averaging 14.3 points, shooting 52.1% from the field and getting an average 6.7 rebounds a game. UConn has done well so far this season even with the recent injury of sophomore Azzi Fudd and are ranked No.11, going 3-2 to start this season
Two top prospects of the WNBA draft are both from LSU. Hailey Van Lith and Angel Reese have been top prospects and looked at for most of their careers. Reese, who won the national championship last year, had an amazing season. She broke the record for NCAA single-season double-doubles with 34 in the closing minutes of the championship game. She also won the most outstanding player award in the tournament. Even though Reese has missed four games already this season, for reasons neither the coach or her have disclosed, she is still averaging a double double with 17 points shooting 46.9% from the floor and 10.3 rebounds. Van Lith transferred from Louisville last season saying she wasn’t happy and needed to put herself first and so far she has been playing very well for LSU. Van Lith is averaging 12.9 points per game shooting 42.9% from the floor and averaging five assists. LSU has done well so far this season and are No.7 as well as 8-1 to start this season.
Guard Deja Kelly for North Carolina is another top prospect in this upcoming draft. She is very athletic and even though she is only 5 ’8 she is very aggressive in the paint. North Carolina is No.24 so far this season and 5-3. Kelly has gotten off to a good start this season averaging 16.1 points shooting 38.1% from the floor. She also is averaging 3.7 rebounds and 1.9 steals a game. Kelly is also a two-time first-time All-ACC selection.
Georgia Amoore is a guard for Virginia Tech. Amoore moves very fast without the ball and is able to get to the rim easily fighting through contact. She also is able to find her teammates off the bounce or find her mid-range. Virginia Tech is No.9 and 5-2 so far this season. Amoore has broken a Virginia Tech record being the first women’s player for Virginia Tech to record a triple double with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. Amoore is averaging 18.1 points shooting 43.5% from the floor and 7.6 assists a game. She also set the record for most assists in a game with 16 on Nov. 16, 2023. Furthermore she also has the most assists in ACC play. She has also won many other awards in her college career.
Guard Diamond Johnson from the Norfolk State Spartans is an amazing shot maker who will light it up from the three point line so far this season she is 36.2% from the three point line. Johnson is very strong and athletic for only being 5 ‘5 and she moves very well without the ball. She previously played for Rutgers and the NC State Wolfpack. Johnson is averaging 12.3 points on 41.6% shooting from the floor. She also averages 4.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists a game. NC State has started the season, although they are unranked they have started the season 7-2.
Emily Ryan a guard for Iowa State has played very well and is being looked at for the upcoming WNBA draft. Ryan is a crafty guard who is an incredible scorer. Ryan has many awards in her college career at Iowa State. She was awarded, unanimous Big 12 All-Freshman team in the 2020-21 season, she also won NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship Greensboro Regional All-Tournament Team in 2021-22.
